Amid one of the snowiest and coldest February’s on record, Chad Fisher Construction (CFC) was racing against the calendar to meet an important deadline for its client, T Bailey of Anacortes, Wash.
T Bailey had contracted with CFC to build a new finished products building in their Anacortes location. Adjacent to their March Point Road property is the home to a large Great Blue Heron colony – the place where these striking birds nest.
The land on which the heronry sits is owned by the Skagit Land Trust, and T Bailey and the Trust have worked in partnership over the years to minimize the impact to the nesting site. It was agreed that no construction work be done outside of the buildings within a setback area from the nests from mid-February through mid-August.
With nesting season beginning in early spring, it was vital to have the new building shell enclosed by Feb. 15, otherwise the site would need to sit idle until after July 30.
Due to hang-ups with permitting, leaving scant time to get the project done within the timeline, T Bailey and the CFC team sat down to discuss whether it was possible and set out a plan. While the timeline looked extremely tight, it still looked doable. Once permits were finally issued on Jan. 7, the first concrete was poured on Jan. 8. With the need to get some cure time on the initial concrete, the framing for the 37,500-square-foot building finally began going up on Jan. 14 as the inclement weather continued to worsen.
The project was proceeding according to plan until Snowpacalypse 2019 blasted the region with a heavy layer of snow and frigid temperatures.
Undaunted, the CFC team put on their foul weather gear and kept at it, finishing the building’s shell and siding on Feb. 14, just ahead of deadline thus saving a delay of six months while the herons nested.
With the building enclosed, CFC crews can now proceed with the interior concrete foundations, floor, crane systems and interior finishes, and allowing T Baily to have its additional manufacturing space much sooner.
CFC would like to thank our team, along with T Bailey, who persevered through the cold and snow to meet this important deadline.
To learn more about the heronry, visit the Skagit Land Trust website.